Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-03-24
A QUAINT SPANISH CUSTOM.
The OLD Time Amusement OF
MISUNDERSTANDING sport.

MISUNDERSTANDING sport.
Those who are acquainted with the GUS
toms of old Spanish towns in California
know what cascarones are, and are prob
ably familiar with the ways of using
them and the additional enjoyment they
lend to all dances where they are used.
To such of our readers who are net well
posted in tie matter we will attempt to
give a few words of explanation.
The origin of the custom Of cascarone
breaking is probably surrounded with as
impenetrable mystery as the identity of
the Man in the Iron Mask" 1t was
brought 10 California by the early Span
ish families from Mexico. and up to with
in a few years past it was an attractive
feature Of every dance given during a
certain portion Of the year. Cascarone
season begins, according to custom, at l2
O'Clock Christmas night and lasts till Ash
Wednesday, and any one of our old citi-
zens can tell of the grand times at casca-
rom balls in the flush days when the
custom was at its height. Dances were
of almost nightly occurrence then, and
hundreds of dozens of cascarones were
broken in an evening, and many a poor
family derived a handsome income from
the manufacture and sale of c~ascarones.
They sold AT 81 a dozen in the early part
of the evening, and in the 'wee sma'
hours" when the commodity became
scarce, an ounce Of golddust has been
known to be given for a single dozen.
Many interesting stories could be told
of the cascarone balls Of the past, but
only one will be mentioned as an in
stance of the popularity of this peculiar
feature Of the balls. On n occasion, at
a ball given at the residence Of Don Jose
Abrego, Pete Serrano. then a muchacho,
was on hand selling cascarones. A gen.
tleman approached and asked what he
would take for his cascarones. lone
dollar a dozen" was the answer. ''How
many have you?' was tho next inquiry.
.'Forty dozen" .'All right, Ill take
them" Taking the basket, he started
down the hall, but had not taken a dozen
steps when he was surrounded by a
number of young ladies, and in a moment
all hands were diving into the basket,
coming out with douhlehandsful and
crushing them on his head, while he
manfully strove To return q few Of the
compliments he received. In five minutes
not one of the forty dozen cascarones re-
manned whole. The modus operandi Of
cascarone making is very simple, and
about as follows: Into an empty eggshell
whole, except for an opening in one
end just large enough to remove the
original contents-is placed about a tea
spoonful of finely chopped paper OF
various bright colors and gold tinsel;
then the opening is neatly closed by
pasting a piece of colored paper over it.
and then the cascarone is all ready for
use.
In Mexico, in the good old times, cuando
habia mucho orc, gold dust mixed with
diamond dust. was often used to I'LL the
eggshells at the swell ~fandangoes given
by the old grandees. And it is done
occasionally nowadays by some Of the
wealthy old Dons who wish to do the
thing up in style. Other ways Of filling
the shells was to use finally ~perfuIned
powder, and sometimes rare and costly
perfumes were used. Very often the
shells were beautifully decorated, and
sometimes hand painted. In Monterey,
before the decline of the custom. the shells
were often colored in fanciful designs like
Easter eggs, and ut other times tastefully
decorated with different colors of paper.
Chopped paper and tinsel were usually
put in the shells, but on more than one
occasion gold dollar pieces were used
one in each shell. Spiced candy was often
used, and sometimes powder and perfum-
cry. Housewives religiously save thu
shells of all the eggs they use and put
them away until ~cascarone season comes
around.
In cascarone breaking it is not neces.
sary that one should be acquainted: in
fact. it is a sort of '.mashing" proceeding
all through. The act of breaking a cas-
carone on another's' head is 10 be cor
sidered a compliment by the recipient,
who is in honor bound TO return il al
the first opportunity. The proper way
70 break them is to crush the shell
in the hand over the persons head
allowing its contents to fall on the head
In the excitement of the amusement
however. the shell is more frequentl'
broken on the head, regardless of ~localit,
or force used. and is oftentimes suggestive
Of anything but amiable feeling on TIN
part Of the bestower. When the ice !
once broken by some adventurous maideI
or plucky man the contagion soor
spreads, and in a short time everybody i
chasing around the room, breaking cas-
carones indiscriminately, and receiving
them from all sides. These mock battle.
usually occur between dances. Year,
ago a SORT Of game was played in tn,
breaking OF c~ascarones. Ii was an OBJ
ject-like in the old game Of ''tag''--t,
break the last on another. tn,
one breaking the last was allowed thu
privilege Of asking the other every tim,
they met: How are my chickens!'' ant
the other would be expected TO give
present for the benefit Of the chickens
candy, ETC., being usually given. Thi
was allowed to be kept up until the mex
cascarone dance. when the game was al
played oven. -Monterey CAL Argus.
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